Timeline
A mysterious new form of hepatitis that affects young children is intriguing medical professionals across Europe and the United States. In Austria, only two suspected cases have been found in Vienna so far, according to the state health department, Upper Austria has so far been spared.
04/26/2022 06/19
Online since today, 6:19 am
170 children in thirteen countries were diagnosed with the new form of hepatitis – a serious liver disease – most of them in Great Britain. In 17 children, liver inflammation was so severe that they required a liver transplant, and at least one child died of the disease, according to the World Health Organization.
Completely uncertain form of infection
How children became infected with hepatitis is currently a completely unsolved mystery, and the new form has no connection to the five previously known forms. However, the new disease also appears to have reached Austria. Two suspected cases are being treated at St. Anna in Vienna. According to the State Medical Directorate, no cases have yet been identified or reported in Upper Austria.
nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
However, all hospitals have already been informed and asked to pay special attention to cases of illness in children, according to information from the office of state medical director Georg Palmisano. Doctors recommend that concerned parents be on the lookout for possible symptoms of liver inflammation: these include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and, above all, yellowing of the skin.